With crises multiplying and budgets shrinking, the UN says protecting human rights can’t be put on pause.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has launched a $400 million funding appeal for 2026, warning that the global human rights system is operating in “survival mode” just as demands on it keep rising.
Speaking in Geneva, Türk said the price of underfunding human rights work is far higher than the cost of running it. “Our work is low-cost, but the human cost of neglect is immeasurable,” he stressed, noting that the world cannot afford a human rights system in crisis.
In 2025 alone, UN human rights teams worked in 87 countries, monitored 1,300 trials, supported 67,000 torture survivors, documented tens of thousands of abuses, and helped secure the release of over 4,000 people from arbitrary detention. They also tracked civilian casualties in 21 armed conflicts, including Ukraine, where the UN has kept the most comprehensive record since 2014.
But shrinking resources are taking a toll. Reduced funding forced the office to scale back operations in 17 countries, cut programmes for vulnerable groups, and lay off about 300 staff. Support for journalists and human rights defenders has also been trimmed at a time when disinformation and repression are on the rise.
Türk said the appeal seeks voluntary contributions to complement the UN’s regular budget, which has fallen 10 per cent from last year. He urged governments and partners to invest more — and faster — insisting that human rights protection remains “low-cost, high-impact” and essential to peace, stability and inclusive growth.
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